Rivers: Ibas rejects Assembly’s move to probe six-month spending

Ibas

The immediate past Rivers State Administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd.), and the Rivers State House of Assembly may be gearing up for a showdown following the latter’s decision to probe the state’s expenditure over the last few months under the former, The PUNCH reports.

Ibas ceased to be the administrator of the oil-rich state on September 17, following the end of the six-month emergency rule, after President Bola Tinubu directed the suspended state governor, Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, and the state House of Assembly members to return to office from the previous Thursday.

The Rivers State House of Assembly, presided over by the Speaker, Martin Amaewhule, during its first plenary after the end of emergency rule, said it would investigate the state expenditure during the six months of emergency rule.

According to the resolutions of the House, “To explore the process of knowing what transpired during the emergency rule with regard to spending from the consolidated revenue fund for the award of contracts and other expenditure.”Clinic: The Triple Troubles of

Findings by The PUNCH showed that Rivers State received at least N254.37bn from the Federation Account Allocation Committee between March and August 2025 under the tenure of the sole administrator.

This figure is based on an analysis of FAAC data from the National Bureau of Statistics and other sources.

While the NBS has released official breakdowns up to June, the figures for July and August were collated from documents presented at FAAC meetings obtained and reviewed by The PUNCH. Punch